Kingdom Hearts: Survive These Days
by TC-Irish3
Summary: Heart City was a fine city before King Fedus died. Then Vezan took over and the whole city has gone to hell. Sora must lead his group and keep them alive. Not only will they attempt to survive, they will fight back as well. Join Sora and his friends in an epic story of survival, and learn what it really means to have a strong heart.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome

"Stop!" the guard yelled, "Stop you bastards!"

I looked up from the food cart. "Shit they spotted us. Ventus grab what you can go, now!"

Ventus nodded and grabbed an armful of food before taking off. I grabbed what I could and took off as well.

"Guards this way!" the guard yelled while running after them, "Thieves! Thieves!"

_Welcome to Heart City. The city used to live up to its name but not anymore. Thanks to King Fedus the city was prosperous and its people were both happy and healthy. King Fedus was a fair ruler who loved his people, and they in turn loved him as well._

"Ventus, you know where to run!" I said, "Get to the roof!" Ventus ran on and I was right behind him. I looked back and saw there were two guards about one hundred yards away.

_Then everything changed when King Fedus died. He didn't die in battle, nor from old age. He didn't die from disease either. He was murdered by someone he thought he could trust. His number one Captain Vezan. Vezan murdered King Fedus and was able to frame a known criminal of Heart City. He also accused she criminal of killing King Fedus' son and heir to the throne, who disappeared. _

Ventus ran up the ladder we had set up around a corner and I did as well. We reached the roof and I pulled off a loosened part of it, revealing a secret hiding place. Only I and the rest of my group knew about this spot and the many others we had set up around the city. "Get in quick," I whispered. Ventus hopped in and I followed him in. I closed the hatch and we both remained as quiet and still as possible. The guards were right above them but were completely unaware of them.

"Where the hell did they go?" one said angrily.

"They must've gone down from here," the other said, "Come on, let's go this way."

_Captain Vezan took the throne shortly after and declared himself Emperor. He quickly turned the city upside down. He set up his Keybearer Police filled with corrupt guards who arrested amd even killed anyone they pleased. What was even worse was Vezan declaring those close to Fedus as conspirators and he had them all killed. No one opposed him._

"Alright I think they're gone," I said. I opened the hatch slowly and peered outside. There was no one around. "Let's head back, but stay quiet and keep your eyes peeled." They crept through some of the alleys while going back to the others. They saw a few more guards but weren't seen. Eventually they reached the base, a rundown building with a hidden basement. They entered and met with the rest of the group. There were about two dozen overall.

When we entered Kairi ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Thank goodness your okay," she said, "We could hear the guards yelling and they were on high alert and everything!"

"It's fine," I reassured her, "And we got some food. Could you do me a favor and start passing some out?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that."

_King Fedus died about a year ago, that's how long we've lived like this. Hiding from guards, taking whatever we can get. Things will change soon. Vezan needs to die and I plan on making sure that happens. My name is Sora, one of many survivors. One of many future Rebels. And this is our story._

**Author's Note: This my second story. Now, as we all know from the KH games, Sora is a very optimistic, positive and sometimes silly character. I'm letting you, the reader, know right now that the Sora in this story is not like that. He'll be angry at times be forced to do some dark stuff in order to keep his group alive. I hope you enjoy this story and don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Night Cover

I was studying a map of the Market District when I heard a knock on my door. "Come in," I said not looking up from the map.

"Sora," Riku said entering the room, "The two scouts you sent out earlier still have yet to return."

I looked up. "What?" Then I looked at my watch. "It's been over three hours, they should've been back over an hour ago, and I lost track of time too.. They were scouting the High District right?"

Riku nodded. "That's right, they were sent to look for food and supplies. And as I said they haven't returned."

I buried my face in hands. I had been up almost twenty four hours and I was exhausted. Nevertheless, I knew what had to be done. "Alright, Riku you and I are going after them. Now."

"That's what I was expecting," Riku said, "Lead the way."

...

I stopped on the roof of a building. Night had just fallen and the only lighting was brought on by dim lights from street lamps and windows. In the distance, lights were shining brightly in the Royal District where Emperor Vezan and the Keybearer Police resisded. Riku stopped next to him and eyed the lights in the distance as well. "I hate those damn lights. We're forced to look at that whole we sit in the dark."

Things will change soon," I assured him, "But for now, we have to find those two."

They leapt from building to building toward the High District. It's name derived from the fact it was always a richer district where the wealthy lived. Now.. There were very few wealthy, the way Emperor Vezan liked it. They stopped occasionally to survey the ground below them. There were a few guards and some stray animals, but no signs of the two scouts. They hoped it wasn't already too late.

"Bring them here!" they heard a deep voice say some distance in front of them. They followed the voice and looked right down at the ground from their vantage point. Four guards, three others. Two were the scouts, Riku and I recognized them. The other... They had no idea. It appeared to be some kid, a few years younger than me. He was unfortunate enough to get caught as well.

"Let's see where this goes," I whispered, "We'll act when we have to." Riku nodded.

Three guards were directly behind the three prisoners, making sure they didn't try anything funny. The fourth guard was pacing back and forth, a smug grin on his face. "What to do, what to do? You two were seen attempting to steal medicine," he pointed at the two scouts, "While you," he pointed at the other kid, "Tried to stop us when we arrested these two. Not so strong without your Keyblades huh kids?" He summoned his own Keyblade. "But I have mine. So let's recap. Stealing, assaulting guards and interrupting guards business, not to mention your all out after curfew. That's a lot of things worth punishing. So enlighten me, convince me. Why shouldn't I kill you all right now?"

The scouts didn't speak. I had told everyone in his group not to speak if they were caught. It only made things worse. So they remained tight lipped.

"B-but we're just kids," the other prisoner said.

The guard smirked. "Wrong answer." He raised his Keyblade and was about to bring it down on one of them.

"Stupid kid," I said, "Riku now." He summoned his Keyblade and jumped down. He struck down the guard with the Keyblade before hitting the ground and Riku took down one of the others. The other two guards were caught completely off guard and Riku and I struck them down with ease.

One of the scouts spoke. "Sora, Riku it's you! Thank goodness! We had some medicine and the guards came and they-"

I put a hand up. "Relax and explain everything when we get back. Do they have the supplies you had?" he asked. The scout nodded. "Grab it then." He them asked the other scout, "Who's the kid?"

"He actually tried to help us when the guards grabbed us. Not sure where he came from though."

They heard yelling in the distance. Guards were coming right at them. "We can't stay here," I said, "Back to the base. And you, kid," he pointed, "Come with us. You better keep up." The kid nodded. "Alright let's go."


	3. Chapter 3: Infected

We returned later that night and I had to go through the never enjoyable task of talking to a potential member of our group. I had the kid come into my office, which also happened to be my room. He sat down as far away from me as he could, on the opposite side of the room. Even from the distance between us two things were obvious. The kid was tired, the bags under his eyes proved that. And he was hungry. He looked thin, too thin, as if he hadn't eaten in several days. Unfortunately for him I didn't have any sympathy. Most members of my group were deprived of sleep, myself included. And the way we rationed food around meant that everyone was given something. However, finding food to feed so many people is easier said than done.

"So tell me kid," I began, "What's your name and how old are you?"

He jumped a little when I spoke, as if he didn't know someone else was in the room. His voice was tired and nervous. "My name is Daniel, and I'm twleve. Sir."

"Don't call me sir," I said. I hated when people referred to me as sir or something like that. It makes me feel like I'm a step above everyone else, like I was their king. Like Emperor Vezan. And I hated that. "Now, Daniel, my two scouts told me everything that happened. They were able to steal supplies, medicine specifically, but were then caught by two guards. So tell me, what were you doing and why did you help them?"

"Well, I guess I should start by saying I'm all alone," Daniel said, "My parents died from lack of good food two months ago. Then I was forced to run when Vezan's police came to take what was left of my house. I've lived off of anything I could find or steal. When I saw your scouts being taken away and beat up by those guards, I guess it just angered me. I felt an obligation to help."

I nodded as he spoke. He now had some of my sympathy. I was also pretty impressed. Of what he was saying was indeed true, that means that he's been living and surviving on his own for two whole months. Him. Just a twleve year old kid.

"Was your father a Keybearer?" I asked.

That question seemed to throw him off a little. "Yes, yes he was."

"So that means you are as well?" I asked.

He hesitated. "N-no, I'm not. My father never showed me how."

I knew he was lying. "Daniel don't lie to me, we're not like Vezan. I'm a Keybearer too, almost everyone here is. Now I'm going to ask only one more time. Are you a Keybearer?"

Daniel closed his eyes and raised hand in front of him. A Keyblade slowly appeared and he grasped it tightly. "I don't really know how to fight though," he said, "Really, I'm not lying."

"Okay okay," I said, "I believe you. So I've made my decision. You have a Keyblade, you helped some of my group, and you have experience stealing necessary supplies. You can join us."

His eyes lit up. "I can? Oh thank you, thank you!"

"But know this," I said, "You have to pull your own weight. You'll go on missions and supply runs just like everyone else. And one more thing. If you are ever caught by the guards and can't fight your way out, do not indicate that you are a Keybearer. They'll kill you on the spot. Understand?"

He nodded quickly. "Yes yes I understand."

"Good. We have some extra beds around. Go make yourself comfortable and acquainted with the others."

Another series of quick nods and he was gone.

"You really can be a softie, especially with the younger ones." Kairi walked in with a big smile on her face."

"You listened to the whole thing?" I asked.

She giggled. "Maybe. I'm just happy you let him stay."

"Well is a Keybearer," I replied. "If they caught him out there alone, he wouldn't stand a chance."

"Sora, Sora!" Ventus appeared in the doorway, out of breath. "There's something you need to see, right now!"

Kairi frowned as I got up from my chair. "It seems like you spend more time out there than in here," she said sadly.

"Don't worry about me," I said, "I'll be fine."

"You promise?" she asked.

"I promise," I assured her. And if that didn't work, I could tell she felt better when I hugged her. We stood there for a few moments, not saying anything, just embracing one another. I felt so much safer in her arms than anywhere else. I kissed her on the cheek and left the room.

"What is it?" I asked Ventus. We started walking toward the exit.

"We don't know," he replied, "It's the weirdest thing. We don't know how to describe it. It's just... Something you have to see for yourself."

"Fair enough," I replied.

Ventus led me a few blocks across the district. He stopped at the roof of a building. Riku was there too, along with Pierce, one of my best scouts. "What's up?" I asked.

"Look, down there," Riku said pointing.

I looked down. I saw a body on the ground and another one kneeling over it. It looked as though. No.. It couldn't. "Is that person.. Eating the other?" When I said it, I almost couldn't believe I did say it.

"Yeah, he is," Riku confirmed, "Or.. It is."

A whistle shrilled from down the alley and a guard ran toward the scene. He stopped when he saw what was happening and summoned his Keyblade. The human-turned-monster noticed him now and let out a loud yell. It didn't sound like a human, more like a creature from someone's nightmares. "Stay back!" the guard yelled, "Stay the fuck back!"

The monster yelled again and charged at the guard. The guard timed up his swing and struck the monster down with a downward strike. Suddenly two more of the monsters were in front of him and a third from behind. He doubled back a few times but there was no where to go. He panicked and wasn't even able to defend himself. The three monsters bit and clawed at him and he let out when long yell before he could no longer be heard. I had to look away for a moment, it was horrible. These things were literally ripping the guard apart.

Then I decided we had to know more about these things, to keep the group safe. "We need to take these things down and check them out, find out what they really are." The others nodded, they knew what had to be done.

Using ranged magic we killed the creatures from their perch. We jumped down and first checked to make sure no one was coming. The coast was clear. I we touched down and inspected the body of the one of these monsters. The visible skin was covered in a dark rash and the eyes turned completely black. The veins around the eyes were popping out and looked unnaturally visible. The mouth was covered with blood and chewed up flesh. From one or these things' victims no doubt.

"The rash and blood shot eyes are clearly some sort of sickness or infection," I said.

"Yeah, there's no doubt about that," Riku said.

"And if I know Vezan," I said, "Then he'll have some bullshit newscast soon discussing this. What we should tomorrow is catch one of these and find out more about them. We should also figure out where this infection originated from and inform our group to avoid these things. As we saw, that guard stood no chance when they attacked him together. Sound good?"

Everyone else nodded. "Good. Let's head back."


	4. Chapter 4: Catching a Monster

I woke up the next morning a little before eleven o'clock. I didn't realize how tired I really was, I guess. At the same time, I should have gotten up long ago to organize the group today. Everyone else was already awake I knew that. I got up and threw on my clothes and shoes and left my room. There weren't many around the central room of our building. Only a few were there, some cleaning, others organizing some equipment. One of them saw me and walked over. I realized as he got closer that it was Daniel.

He smiled and said, "Good morning Sora. Riku told me to tell you that he and Ventus would be waiting for you at South Eastern Station for your mission or whatever. I'm not sure what it is, but he said that you would know."

I nodded. "Yeah I know what's going on. Thanks Daniel."

I left the base and met Riku and Ventus at South Eastern Station. The station used to have a large train that went all around the city and to various stations outside the city as well. Not anymore. Vezan shut down all the stations claiming they used up too much power. We knew that wasn't the case. He just wanted to halt transportation to give himself a better idea of where citizens were at all times. He was paranoid like that, a complete control freak.

I found Ventus and Riku on the roof of the station. Seemed like staying in high places was our best option all the time. "I trust you two brought the net we needed?" I asked.

"Got it right here," Ventus answered, holding up the net.

"Good, so what we're gonna do is knock one of them out, if that's possible, and then put it in the net. We'll take it back with us and inform everyone in the group just what they are. Obviously we don't know much yet but it's better our people know as much information as we can give." I finished talking and both Ventus and Riku nodded their understanding. "Alright let's find one then."

Leaping from building to building we kept our eyes to the ground, looking for both a monster and any guards. We heard a shrill whistle some distance away and followed it. With any luck, there may be some guards fighting the creatures. We looked down and to see one guard and three monsters. There had to be about five dead monsters and three dead guards on the ground. The last surviving guard looked terrified and before we even realized what was happening, he ran off. The monsters yelled their loud, bloodcurdling screams and chased after the guard. My eyes widened at the observation I made. These monsters were fast. Very fast. In fact they were faster than any human should be. Except they weren't really human anymore.

The guard didn't stand a chance. He barley made it to the end of the alley when the monsters pounced on him and ripped him apart.

"Now's our chance," I said, "You guys take out two of them and I'll go for the third. On my signal." I got into position right above the three creatures. I gave Riku and Ventus a thumbs up and they used magic to take out two of them. Before the third could react I jumped down and landed on it, hitting it in the head with the hilt of my Keyblade.

I knocked it out cold, I almost couldn't believe it. "Get the net down here!" I yelled up to Riku and Ventus. They came down and we tightened the net around the monster. "Let's head back, before it wakes up," I said.

...

Back at the base I called for everyone to meet in the central room. We had the monster in a cage and now that it was awake, it was hungry for blood. It was grunting and occasionally let out one of its yells. A few of the people in the crowd backed off in fear and others voiced their opinions saying things like, "What the hell is that thing?"

I cleared my throat. "Everyone listen up! On top of having to avoid guards day and night, we now have these things as well. As you can see it used to be human, but we've concluded that some sort of disease causes them to change into a monster. They are very hostile and aggressive and they attack, kill and eat humans. Avoid them at all costs. And one more thing. We've decided to refer to them as Runners."

"Why call them that?" a voice from the crowd asked.

"Because," I began, "When they run, they're faster than any human. So do not run from them. We're not sure yet if they can climb but we'll figure that out. But do not run, and if they're in a large pack, do not engage unless you use ranged magic. Any more questions?"

I saw many heads look around at one another but no one spoke.

"Alright then. We're done here," I said before summoning my Keyblade and stabbing the Runner through the cage. It fell dead as I walked away.


	5. Chapter 5: Seeing the Emperor

I took it upon myself to go on a little mission of my own without telling anyone. Kairi would just worry about me, and Riku would want to come with me. No I didn't want that. What I was planning to do, I had to do it alone. It was a crazy idea and to be honest I'm not really sure where the idea came from. Curiosity I guess.

I was going to do a little spying on the dear Emperor Vezan. His throne room has an all glass roof and since it was a hot summer, some of those glass windows would be open. So all I had to do was climb up to the higher levels any way I could and then listen in on Vezan. I wanted to ser what he was up to.

I waited until around midnight before slipping out of the base. I didn't even go past the guard on watch, I chose to go around instead. I stuck to the rooftops, leaping from building to building. There would be many guards on watch, even more now that the Runners were all over the place. Staying on the high ground was the best amd safest bet no doubt.

It was funny. Even after everything that's happened in this past year, King Fedus' murder, Vezan taking the throne, now these Runners too. Even after all that, the one thing I always enjoyed was feeling that warm summer breeze while running on the rooftops. It almost makes it feel like things are still the way they used to be before King Fedus died. It made me feel happy even, something I never feel anymore.

I shook my head to concentrate on the task at hand. I had just reached the outside of the castle and I had to look for the best way in and up. There were guards on some of the balconies and even more on the walls and at the gates. I had to use the cover of night to my advantage, especially since many if not all these sentries would be tired and bored at this point. I pulled the black hood over my head. I made sure to grab my black jacket and black pants to further my disguise. My only regret was that it was hot out. Damn was it hot and wearing these heavy clothes was brutal. But that was just a necessity for a more important task at hand.

I went to the far side of the wall and climbed up. I peered over the edge and the coast was clear. I hopped over and looked down at the courtyard. Three guards, one roaming and two at the front gate. And just as I expected, they were tired and bored. The roaming sentry was walking slowly and clumsily while the other two could barely tamd upright. Perfect.

I jumped down and kept to the shadows. When I reached the wall coinciding with the front gate, I found a loosened window and slowly went inside. I had to remain alert at all times. Though there would be next to no guards actually inside the castle, if I was spotted my whole mission would be compromised. I knew the throne room would be at one of the higher levels so I looked for a set of stairs, or maybe even a window to climb up from the outside. I found a set of stairs at the end of a long hallway. I went up and found myself in another hallway. I was amazed at the number of doors on both sides of the hallway. I could imagine as to where these doors led and what was on the other side, but checking them one at a time would take too long, not to mention increase my chances of being caught. No I just had to stick to going up, whether it be stairs or climbing.

I found an open window on the second floor, man was I up high now. Even on the second floor this castle was huge. I made sure not to look down and freak myself out and just grabbed whatever I could to climb up. Luckily for me, the castle walls were built with many little outlets and inlets that were actually good for climbing. It wasn't on purpose, it just happened to be how the design was.

So up I climbed until happened reached the roof. The roof was actually quite a sight. It had a garden on my right, and a small fountain in the center. The fountain wasn't running right now which frustrated me a little because the extra noise would provide me with more cover. Oh well.

Slipping through the garden I found the curved windows that rose above the throne room. I got into a prone position and slowly crawled to the glass. I reached it and peeked my head over and looked down. The lights were faint in the room but I could seem him alright.

Emperor Vezan. He was pacing back and forth in front of his throne. He wasn't wearing the signature crown but I could tell it was him. Short black hair, fading to grey at the end. And that black goatee, he always had that. I feel wierd saying this, but my god, I hated that fucking goatee. But that obviously isn't important.

I saw one of the windows was open so I leaned against that one while I listened. I could see Vezan and now I heard another voice, probably a servant. "My lord, what do you want us to do about these creatures? They attack any person they see without mercy, we've even lost several officers at their hands!"

"Quiet down!" Vezan said, clearly annoyed with this servants rambling, "Don't be such a spinless baby! Just have more guards on duty and tell them not to travel alone. It's really not complicated, Senzo, use your head for once."

The servent, who I just learned was named Senzo, spoke again, "Of course my lord, I'll send the order out right away to the Keybearer Police. There is one more issue as well, Emperor Vezan. What of those groups who have been harassing the guard and stealing food and supplies?"

Emperor Vezan waved his hand aside, as though he couldn't be bothered. "The hell with those rebels, if the guards don't take care of them then those monsters certainly will."

Senzo hesitated, as if expecting more if an answer. Then he said. "Very well then my lord, have a good night." He bowed quickly and left. Then Vezan left through another door, to his chambers no doubt.

I knew that was all I would hear. I left the castle grounds undetected, slipping past the dumb and tired guards at the front gate with ease yet again. On the way back I thought of what I had heard. Vezan clearly didn't think the Runners were a problem, I suppose that's good news for my group. But something else was tugging at my brain. Senzo said there were groups, not just group. Were there others like my group, surviving and taking supplies? Then Vezan referred to those groups as rebels.

I smiled when I thought back to him saying that.

_Rebels._

It certainly did have a nice ring to it.


	6. Chapter 6: New Recruits

I was still on my way back to the base when an unexpected turn of events occurred. It happened when I was still a few miles away from the case when I heard the shrill whistle of a guard. I followed the source of the whistle and from atop my perch I could see six guards. Around them was the bodies of two runners. But it was who was also there that surprised me most. A boy and a girl a year or two older than myself it appeared. The boy had brown hair and had a determined look on his face. The girl had blue hair and the hair look in her eyes was a worried one. The two were on their knees, and it was obvious that they were just captured by these guards. It was when I noticed their armor that I became confused. Their armor was the same that King Fedus' elite warriors wore. But how was it possible for these two to have the armor? All of King Fedus' best soldiers were executed by Vezan.

Either way, if these two were enemies of the guards, then they were friends of mine. Now all I had to do was wait for the right moment to strike. I couldn't help from smiling a little bit. This felt just like when Daniel and my two scouts were caught and we had to save them too. Only difference was that I was by myself this time and there were more guards now than before.

That, however, made no difference to me. Like I said before, an enemy of the guards is a friend of mine. I summoned my Keyblade, oh how I loved feeling its weight in my hands. I hopped down to a balcony and slowly peered over to hear what was being said.

The leader of the group of guards was standing in front of his two prisoners, while the rest were making sure they tried nothing funny. Now the captain spoke. "I'm impressed," he said in a mocking tone, "Impressed indeed. How any of Fedus' guard is still alive, is beyond me. But here you are now, you two, at my mercy. Your probably hoping I'm a merciful man, too bad I'm not. But answer me this, how did you two avoid death? Emperor Vezan made sure to kill all of your kind. So tell me, how are you still here?"

Neither the girl or boy said a word. The girl looked at the ground, refusing to look the guard in the eye. The boy was giving the guard a dirty, defiant look. Now the guard smiled. "Oh, quiet ones are we? Or maybe your both just mute? Either way I don't really care. If neither of you are going to speak, then your of no use to me. Time to die?"

And now it was time for me to act. I shot light from my Keyblade at the head guard, taking him down swiflty. I quickly jumped to the other side of the buildings, firing light at another guard along the way. Two down.

Now the other guards were in a panic. "Where the hell did that come from!?" one said in distress. With the guards attention no longer on the girl and boy, they quickly acted, summoning their own Keyblades. They attacked the guards and I jumped down to join them. The three of us made quick work of the guards. That was one luxury of there being so many guards. Most were poorly trained and others barely could even fight. The corruption had taken over completely, even in the Keybearer Police.

I took a deep breath to relax myself and faced the two I had just saved.

The boy spoke. "I'm Terra, and this is Aqua, thanks for helping us." He offered me his hand.

I accepted it and we shook hands. "I'm Sora, and don't mention it." We heard the yell of a Runner in the distance. "We shouldn't stay here, follow me and I can take you someplace safe. I'd also like to ask you two a fee questions."

Terra hesitated but Aqua spoke now for the first time. "We'll follow, we owe you anyway."

I nodded. "Let's go then, follow me." We headed off toward the base.

**Twenty minutes later...**

"We're here," I said as I led Aqua and Terra into the base. I took them to the central room where we hold meetings and said, "Wait here for a second, I'll be right back." They nodded and I went to get Riku.

I knocked on his door and after a few seconds he opened the door. He was rubbing his eyes, clearly he was asleep. "Sora? What the hell man, do you have any idea what time it is?"

I looked at my watch. I had to rub away some of the dirt to read it clearly. It was two-thirty in the morning. However I didn't answer Riku's question. "Come with me, it's important."

Riku was suddenly wide awake. Seeing the serious look on my face, he didn't argue. He grabbed his shoes and I led him to where Terra and Aqua were waiting.

"This," I said, "Is Terra and Aqua. They were caught by the guards and I helped them escape."

"More like saved us completely," Aqua said, "You don't have to be so modest Sora. We'd probably be dead if not for you."

Riku studied them. He was thinking the same thing I had been. "Why do two have the armor that King Fedus' elite warriors wore?"

Terra cleared his throat. "Because we're in the elite guard. Or we were, before it was.. Shut down. As far as we know, we're the only ones left."

I asked the next question. "So how did you avoid the executions?"

Aqua answered. "It was as if King Fedus knew what was going to happen. He told many of the elite warriors to go into hiding. Some did, but others refused. We did, clearly, and then everything went to hell. Looking back I think we should have stayed with the King." She looked down sadly when she finished her last sentence.

At the moment, at the two-thirty in the morning, I was a little short on sympathy. "Ok well, why did you two think it was smart to run around the streets in the eilte warrior armor? Makes it pretty obvious who's side your on."

Terra became angry at me, and with good reason, since I had spoken out of hand myself. "It was all we had. The King died, then our friends and families. There was no home to return to. We've barely been able to survive this last year."

"In that case," I said, calming myself down a little, "I have a proposition for you two. Join us here. We've survived by relying on one another. We have people to cook and clean and keep this place up and running, while others fight and get food and supplies. We've only lost a few over this time we've been together. Here you'll be safe, as long as you do your job, that is."

Terra and Aqua looked at one another. Aqua nodded. Terra looked back at me. "We're in."

**Authors note: Here's another chapter down! Hope you've been enjoying it so far and don't worry, there's going to be some real action coming soon. Please review, it doesn't take that long and it really means a lot. Your feedback is one of the things that makes me want to keep writing! Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7: Spark of Rebellion

The next day, after Aqua and Terra got settled into their quarters, I called for a meeting. I had an announcement.

The fifty or so people of our group came into the large central room of the base and made themselves comfortable. As I looked at them I thought to myself how far we had come. When Vezan executed the Elite Warriors for their "corruption and treason," many of those in the Elite Warriors were our parents. That's why it began as only Riku, Kairi, Ventus and myself. That's another reason I was cautious about Aqua and Terra. They seemed too young to be in the Elite Warriors. But it turned out they were telling the truth. So back to my group, like I said there was roughly fifty of us. I now realize that I failed to mention that we were all kids or young adults, and that all of out parents were either dead or missing. Sad, yes I know, but it's also the truth. That's just how it is and those who felt sorry for themselves have long been dead.

Anyway, that's not important anymore. What is important is staying together, watching out for each other, and staying alive.

I cleared my throat before speaking. Luckily everyone had seen I was standing on a chair and had stopped talking. "Everyone," I began, "I have some news to share with all of you. First off, I'd like to welcome Aqua and Terra to our family. They are the last of the Elite Warriors under King Fedus. They are strong and capable warriors and will be a great asset to us all. We welcome them and treat them well as they join our family." I stopped momentarily as some cheered a little. Most had already met Aqua and Terra by now, and from what I saw, I could tell they would fit in well with us.

"Now," I continued, "Last night I decided to pay our old friend, the _great _Emperor Vezan, a visit." Though I said it sarcastically, members of the crowd booed loudly. I smiled a little at that. We all had a mutual hate for Vezan, and for good reason.

When the noise died out, I went on. "I did a little spying, to see what Vezan was up to. And what I overheard during a conversation between Vezan and a servant named Senzo was pretty interesting. The first is that Vezan is planning on doing nothing about the Runners. So that means we'll have to be extra careful, especially at night. Even during the day no one is to travel, or go out alone."

"Why isn't Vezan doing anything about the Runners?" someone from the crowd asked. Others voiced their own opinions of why, most of which referring to Vezan as a coward.

"According to Vezan," I said, "The guards will take care of the Runners. Although we've already seen that the Keybearer Police are terrified of the Runners." A few more cheers.

"This next part is very important, and it affects us all greatly," I said seriously. I took a deep breath. "Senzo referred to us as troublemakers who have been disrupting the guards and stealing supplies, both of which are true. But here's what really caught my attention. Senzo talked about more than one group. And I know what you are thinking, and yes, that does mean there are others just like us. Groups who are standing up against Vezan and fighting back. What I propose is this: we find these other groups and join our forces together. Form our bases all around Heart City, become one!"

Many in the crowd were becoming very excited now. Clearly any sign of getting rid of Vezan was all everyone really wanted.

I made my voice loud and clear. "Vezan referred to all the groups who oppose him as one thing! And that thing is a Rebel. He called us Rebels. And I say we embrace that name! It's time we fight! It's time we take back our city!"

The crowd was in a frenzy. All this talk of fighting back and taking out Vezan ignited the fire in their hearts, mine as well.

The spark of rebellion was alive.

I hopped down from the chair and ran to the wall I had spray painted on the night before. It was currently covered by a sheet. "This will be our insignia!" I yelled as I ripped off the sheet revealing the insignia. It was dark red in color, like blood. The insignia itself was clenched fist, as though the arm was being raised up in the air. At the bottom of thr fist were two crossing swords. The outline of a small heart was right below the crossing point of the swords.

As I looked on at thr crowd, everyone cheering and jumping around like maniacs, I knew one thing was certain.

The rebellion had begun.


	8. Chapter 8: Sending a Message

With the rebellion now in full swing, I knew we had to send Vezan a message. Show him that we were there, and that we meant business. I sent out Daniel and a few other scouts to search the area. They were ordered to look for anything of decent value. Supply transports, small Keybearer Police squads, anything to go after and take out. This time we were going to do a little more than just piss Vezan off.

Daniel returned after about an hour and a half with a wide grin on his face. "Good news Sora, we found a medical supply cart not too far from here. There's about a dozen guards, nothing we can't handle."

I slapped Daniel on the shoulder. "Good work, now show me on the map the exact route we should take."

"Yeah, no problem," Daniel said as we walked over to the map on my desk. "They're gonna pass through here," he pointed to a long street a few blocks away from our position. "And I figured we could use the alleys here... And here to cut them off and flank them."

"And take them completely by surprise," I concluded.

"My thoughts exactly," Daniel said still smiling.

"Alright then," I said nodding my head, "Let's get to business."

**Shortly Later:**

"Ok so we all know the plan right?" I asked my small but capable squad. "We all take different positions in and around the street, launch ranged attacks, and then hit them while they're still confused."

My squad, specifically Riku, Ventus, Daniel, and Terra all nodded. We had gone over the plan back at the base but I knew it never hurt to make sure everyone was on the same page. "To positions," I whispered as the guards came into sight, along with their cargo.

From my position behind some fallen debris and rubble I could confirm Daniel's information. Twelve guards, and a decent sized cart that was had to be filled with food and possibly medicine. I looked around. Riku was across the street from me, behind some old trash cans. Ventus was up on a rooftop, a great vantage point. Terra was oj the opposite side of the street on a rooftop parallel to Ventus's position. Daniel was right behind me, ready to charge after our initial attack.

I summoned my Keyblade, feeling its balanced weight in my right hand. I pulled my hood over my head, though it probably wasn't necessary. The cover of night was a wonderful after all. I gathered light energy into the tip of my Keyblade, as I could see the others do the same. When I gathered enough, I yelled, "NOW!" and shot out of my position. I fired light at the guards in front of me, not really picking a target but knowing I would hit one. And I hit one alright, directly in the chest. He didn't stand a chance.

"What the-" one of the guards said before being hit by another light attack, I think it was Riku's. Other guards were struck down by Ventus and Terra, who were now jumping down from their vantage points to join Riku and myself. Daniel was also right behind me, Keyblade in hand and ready to fight. I met a guard head on and struck him down with ease, mostly because he was still trying to figure just what the hell was going on. I saw Terra make quick work of two guards who had targeted him. Clearly he wasn't bullshitting me when he talked about his fighting skills.

There were still five guards left at this point and I took another down with fire magic. I slipped a little and was off balance. I saw a guard in my peripheral vision and turned to face him. Suddenly he yelled out in pain and hit the ground with a thud as Daniel pulled his Keyblade out of the guard. He was proving to be a capable and reliable fighter. That much was obvious.

I watched the others take care of the last few guards. "Nice work everyone, not a single casualty on our side. On their side, on the other hand, I can't say the same thing."

"Damn straight," Terra said with a grin.

"Let's grab the supplies from the cart and head back, before anyone or anything shows up," I said. We quickly gathered what we could and as the others began to head back, I hesitated. "Almost forgot," I said to myself. I pulled out a small can of spray paint and on a nearby wall I tagged our insignia. The clenched fist of defiance, the crossing swords, and the smal heart.

Message sent.

**The Next Day:**

I woke up the next day in a great mood for first time in a while. And why not? In addition to medicine, we had gotten plenty of food and water as well. Plus the mission itself was a complete success with no one getting hurt. Kairi saw me and she smiled back. "Aren't we in a good mood this morning," she said cheerfully.

I gave her a long hug and said, "Kairi, what we've started here is going to change everyone's lives for the better. Hell not just our lives, the entire city!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy now Sora. We had a good raid last night but we haven't toppled the tyrant just yet," Riku said walking up to me and Kairi. He too had a happy look on his face.

"Not yet," I replied, "I know that, but soon we'll all be free."

It was strange. As soon as I said that, I had a feeling of doubt. Like I couldn't even believe myself. I shook the feeling away as fast as I could.


	9. Chapter 9: Search for the Others

It was later that day that I called Riku to my room. We had some business that I thought we needed to talk about sooner rather than later. Riku came in and sat down. "Hey Sora, what's up?" he asked.

I sat down and made myself comfortable. "Well Riku remember when I said that I overheard Vezan and Senzo talking about there being more than one group of Rebels?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah you told everyone about that when you snuck around the palace. What of it?"

I leaned forward a little in my chair. "I say.. We go find some of them." I said quietly. "If we join forces, then we'll be that much stronger."

Riku rested his head on his fist, thinking over what I had just said. "I do agree with that, it's definitely the right course of action for our current situation. But how can we approach this? We have no idea who these other Rebels are or where to find them."

"I thought about all that," I said waving my hand aside, "Think about it. These other groups are probably just like us. Pretty much full of kids whose parents were killed by Vezan's tyranny. And we're also here, set up in the south side or the city. So that means that we can go north, northeast, and northwest from here to look. That is a lot of ground to cover I know that, but we have to try at least."

"I suppose your right," Riku said, "Why not? Let's go for it!"

Truth be told I was actually very glad to hear Riku say that. This wouldn't be easy I knew that, and having some support was more than appreciated. "Ok then," I said rubbing my hands together, "I suggest that both you and I go out later and look around parts of the city. I'll also have Ventus, Terra, Daniel and a few others go as well. We'll split up into groups of two or one to cover more ground."

"Sounds good," Riku said, "But what about that other girl? Aqua I think was her name. She can fight too, you told us that."

"Actually she's still sick," Kairi said walking into the room. I thought to myself that maybe I should actually close that door every now and then. "She still has that cold that she had before she even got here," Kairi continued, "I suggest she rest some more, at least another day or two."

"Oh, well alright then," Riku said getting up from his chair. "We all ready to head out Sora?"

I got up now as well. "Yeah go spread the word to whoever wants to come. I'll join you in a few minutes."

"Got it," Riku said walking out of the room.

Kairi waited until Riku completely left the room before saying, "Busy as always I see."

"Well I know there's someone out there who will join us or at least he willing to help. So, you know, we gotta do this," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"I know, I get that," Kairi said rolling her eyes, "I just wish it wasn't always _you _who has to rush to be the first one out there. It gets more dangerous everyday."

I walked up to her and gave her a reassuring hug. "I promise I'll come back, like always."

"You better," she replied, "Cause if not I'll go out there and kill you myself," she laughed a little.

I laughed too, maybe a little too much. "I'll keep that in mind." Then in a more serious tone, "I'll see you later." I kissed her on the cheek and left the room, meeting up with Riku.

**Later on in the City Streets:**

I landed on a rooftop and caught my breath for a second. "Alright.." I said to myself, "Where the hell are these guys?" I had been searching along with the others for over two hours now. Riku was with Ventus, Daniel was with Terra, and two other scouts were together. I elected to go alone. We were looking for any sign of other Rebels, but so far had come up with absolutely nothing at all. To be honest it was frustrating as hell. Still, the search had to continue, at least while there was some daylight left.

There was no shortage of guards or Runners either. I had to take care of a few of each, mostly so the noise wouldn't attract even more. I also made it a point to spray paint our insignia on the walls every now and then, just for the hell of it.

Any way to prove a point right?

After some more time of mindless searching, I heard the yelling of some guards some distance away. I followed the source, figuring it would just be some Runners or the guards being jackasses. I didn't yet realize I was about to find what me and my friends had been searching for.

Rebels.

I jumped to a vantage point and looked down. My timing was perfect. I watched two guards get struck down in quick succession., by a single figure. He, or she, was dressed in all black and had a hood to conceal their face. Another figure emerged from a nearby alley. He didn't have a hood so I could see his face. He had a small face, but a very angry look on it. He couldn't have been any older than myself. He had short black hair and from this distance I couldn't see much more. I could however see the large scar that ran on his left cheek. He was clearly no stranger to battle. "That's all of them?" he asked the hooded figure.

"Yeah, no problem," the hooded figure said. I could tell the figure had a female voice. She removed her hood now. She had brown hair that ran to just below her shoulders and had blue eyes. She had a very tired look on her face. "Can we go back now?" she asked the boy.

"Yeah, it's about time we should. Let's go," the boy answered.

They were about to walk away so I sort of panicked and just jumped down. I landed on my feet with a loud thud. Immediately the boy and girl turned and summoned their Keyblades, readying for anything. They seemed almost surprised that I wasn't a guard or a runner. "Who are you?" the boy asked, narrowing his eyes.

"My name is Sora," I said calmly, "My group has a base set up on the south side of the city. We've been fighting back and surviving for about a year now. We've also been searching. Searching for other Rebels, as Vezan calls them. We're Rebels, and I'm pretty sure you are too."

"So what if we are," the boy said, "What's it to you?"

"We want to fight back against Vezan," I said, "Take back the city and put a proper ruler on the throne. I thought that by combining our forces we would have an even greater chance at success."

"Hey, uh, Denn," the girl began, "Maybe we should take him back with us... What he's saying does make sense."

The boy, who I then knew was called Denn, shot her a quick look. "Ok fine, come with us. But you walk in front of me, don't leave my sight."

I nodded. "Alright then."

I walked by them. Denn gave me a suspicious look and the girl gave me a small smile. I began walking and they were right behind me. Part of me was excited that I had found someone who could be an ally. Another part of me was afraid, because I had no idea what was going to happen.

**Authors Note: another chapter down! I know there hasn't been a lot of action lately but don't worry there is some coming. Along with some twists and turns along the way! Please review, let me know what you think. I also take suggestions for possible characters and OCs to add in. Plus it only takes a few seconds to review! Hope you have been enjoying the story!**


	10. Chapter 10: New Developments

I continued walking in front of Denn and the girl, who I had yet to hear her name at this point. We were heading east, I knew that much and the father east we went, the better looking the city looked. It was as if the south side was slowly being forgotten. That said this part of the city, I now recognized we were in the Stadium District, still was a lot worse now than it had been just a year ago. The streets were filthy, riddled with all kinds of trash and occasionally a corpse or two.

_How things have changed... _I thought to myself.

Along the way we ran into a few Runners and we struck them down with ease.

"Not bad," the girl said to me.

"It's nothin'" I replied, allowing myself a small smile.

Denn wasn't impressed. Not that it mattered to me what the hell he thought.

"We're here," Denn said blankly as we reached what looked to me as a dead end. There was a poster on the wall, a very large one in fact, that had a picture of Emperor Vezan and said below his picture, "Hail the Emperor Always." It made me want to throw up to be honest, seeing that god damn poster. Denn walked up to it, checked to make sure no one was behind us watching, and carefully pulled off the top two corners of the poster to reveal an opening. My eyes widened, I was pretty impressed with this hideout already, and I hadn't even entered. Nevertheless these people knew what they were doing, that much was obvious.

We entered through and went down a ladder. It was dark down below except for some torches that lit dimly. "We've been trying to get the power on," the girl said, "But so far we haven't had any luck."

"It'll be up soon enough," Denn said.

We continued walking through a maze of underground tunnels until we reached our destination. The doorway to the room wasn't a door at all but had a large towel to provide some privacy.

"Liza, it's Denn and Ariel," Denn announced. So her name was Ariel, but who was this Liza?

"Come in," a voice, which had to be Liza's, replied.

Denn turned to me. "Wait here, we'll tell you when to come in." I nodded.

Denn and Ariel entered and I waited outside the room. I looked down the hallway and could see entrances to other rooms and more hallways. Was this it? An underground concourse of hallways and rooms? I felt like there had to be more to this base but at the same time, it was a very well laid out. The odds Vezan would suspect Rebels to be right underneath him weren't very good. Still, I had to prefer my own base compared to this.

I was still trapped in my own thoughts when Ariel appeared from behind the towel. "You can come in now, Liza wants to speak with you."

I followed her into the room. Denn was sitting in a chair and leaning back to rest his eyes a little. The room itself was tiny, and several candles were the only light source. There was a decent sized desk in the middle of the room, a single girl was standing over it. She was examining a map of the north side of the city, the palace taking up a lot of the space.

Ariel cleared her throat. "Liza, this is Sora, a Rebel from the south side of the city."

Liza looked up at me. She had a pale face and long blond hair and dark blue eyes. "You say your from the south side of the city?" she asked me.

"Yeah that's right," I answered. Strange she asked me that, considering Ariel just told her that.

"Last we heard, the entire south side of the city was abandoned," Liza said. I was taken back by that a little. "Even the guards are leaving there, since those monsters are growing in number every day. They're becoming too much to handle is what we heard."

"Well I can definitely say that the guard activity has decreased in the last few weeks," I said. "And there have been more Runners too."

"Runners? What the hell are those?" Liza asked me.

"Oh right, we call them Runners because of how fast they are," I said.

She nodded confirming she understand what I was talking about.

"But anyway," I continued, "I can assure you that the south side us not abandoned. At least not entirely. My group is there and we have our own hideout like you do here. In the last week or so we've been upping our own activity to get more supplies and fight back against the Keybearer Police. So far we've had great success."

"It's good to hear that," Liza said while sitting down. "Tell me, how many are in your group? We're about one hundred and fifty strong here."

"We only have about fifty but we've recently gotten some new recruits," I answered. "Two of them are even former members of the Elite Guard who were able to escape Vezan's executions. What we lack in numbers, we make up for in skill and strength."

"So tell me Sora," Liza said a little tiredly, "Why is it you have been searching for our group and the other Rebels?"

"Oh right," I said, "Like I said we have been fighting back and been having very good success against the guards for the obvious reasons. They're not properly trained and some are in the Police just for the power, so they're no problem to us at all. Anyway, me and my friend Riku talked about it, and we want to take the city back from Vezan. I knew there were others fighting back beside us, so i just connected the dots. If we combine our strength, then we could really take the fight to Vezan, and put a proper ruler on the throne."

The entire time I was talking, Liza listened closely and nodded occasionally. "Well I guess I should tell you that you're a little late," Liza said. "My group and the Rebles on the west side of the city have already linked up and we've been working together for some time now. Like I said, we had heard that the south side was abandoned, so we never checked it out.

I couldn't get mad about that. It was only understandable not to search an area that was reported to be dangerous. All that does is put more in harms way. And they had already made contact with the west side Rebels? That was great. Now with all three of our forces, we would be a tough opponent to beat.

"So I need to know," I said, "Are we all in this together? Your group, mine and the west side?"

"I have no problem with it," Liza said, "But you should meet the west side Rebels. Obviously they'll agree, but I'm sure he would want to meet you face to face anyway. It's dark out now, so you'll stay the night here, and then Denn and Ariel will escort you to the west hideout tomorrow."

"Alright that's sounds good," I said, "But who is _he?"_

"Celius," Liza replied.


	11. Chapter 11: The Pieces Fall in Place

I awoke the next morning to Ariel laying a tray of food on a table in the room I was provided. I had to hand it to Liza, she provided me with a warm bed, dinner an now breakfast. Not to mention an escort to the west hideout.

"Good morning," Ariel said as I sat up in the bed.

"Morning," I said sleepily, rubbing my eyes. It was in the middle of the night that I realized that I hadn't spoken to anyone in my group since yesterday. They had no idea where I was. I know that Riku will have figured I found more Rebels, but Kairi.. Kairi is probably freaking out right now, despite what Riku says. "She's gonna kill me.." I muttered.

Ariel looked confused. "Who's going to kill you?" she asked.

"Oh, uh," I chuckled a little embarrassed, "Kairi is someone who is very important to me. She's always there as soon as I return from missions. At the same time, she worries a little too much. I wish she wouldn't worry so much."

Ariel smiled. "It's obvious how much she cares about you, I hope you feel the same way about her."

I looked Ariel directly in the eyes. "I do."

**A short while later:**

"You will leave as soon as your ready," Liza told me as I sat down in her office. "I'll have Denn and Ariel guide you to the west hideout to meet Celius. You can talk to him there. Like I said, we here are with you. Strength in numbers is important, and the sooner Vezan is off the throne the better. And since I don't know anyone who hates Vezan more than Celius, then I'm sure he won't even hesitate to accept your proposal."

"Well that's good to hear," I said as I got up from my chair. "I'm all set, if Denn and Ariel are, that is?"

"Yeah we're ready to go," Denn said as he entered the room. "Ariel's already outside waiting for us."

"Alright, sounds good," I said.

"Good luck Sora," Liza said to me, "I hope your plan works out."

"I do too," I replied, "And thanks for the hospitality."

I was walking with Denn down the hall to the surface. "So," I began, "What's your story? I mean how did you build all these underground tunnels?"

"When Vezan took power we immediately went into hiding," Denn answered. "Some of these tunnels already existed, they were secret hiding places in past wars. We obviously extended them and have made them our hideout. We've lived relatively well the past year, though it's been hell since King Fedus died."

"It hasn't been easy for any of us," I replied. "But things will get better."

"I thought that once," Denn said coldly, "But with each passing day I lose more hope."

I could tell from the tone of his voice that this conversation was over. Denn had probably been through a lot but nothing more than the rest of us. Losing loved ones, leaving our old lives behind, we've all done it. So if he wanted my pity, he wasn't getting any.

We reached the surface where Ariel was waiting for us. "We all ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah let's get this over with," Denn said.

I nodded.

The sun had risen shortly earlier and the morning sun was shining brightly as it continued to rise. It was a beautiful day out actually. A shame it was ruined by the full and grey look of the city streets. Not to mention the countless guards and Runners patrolling the streets nonstop.

"So tell me," I said to them after some time of silence, "How is this Celius?"

"Well, he's a very strong warrior and a great leader," Ariel said, "But he can tend to be..."

"A little too fast in his decision making," Denn finished for her.

"Yeah that sounds about right," Ariel said.

We continued heading west, closer and closer to the cities western walls. We were spotted by a few guards every now and then, but we had no reason to stop and fight since were running along the rooftops.

"There it is," Denn said suddenly.

A few miles in front of us, the cities old radio tower had just become visible. It was abandoned several years ago and was only home to stray animals. I guess now it was used as a much more important building. "That's the west hideout? I asked looking for confirmation, "The radio tower?"

"That's it," Ariel confirmed. "Celius set up his base there shortly after it all went to hell. He's got about one hundred followers with him now. Most fight, obviously, but others are there to make sure the place just stays up and running."

"That's how my group is too," I said. "I assume yours is the same?"

"That's right," Denn answered. "Having fighters is important to go out and get supplies as what not, but you need others to keep the base clean, and all that other stuff."

We continued on in silence until we reached the radio tower. There was a single guard outside, and he couldn't have been older than fourteen. He looked tense and ready for a fight, but relaxed when he recognized Ariel and Denn. Then he saw me. "Who's this?" he asked.

"This is Sora," Ariel answered, "He's already seen Liza and wants to see Celius. He's from the south side of the city."

The kids eyes widened at that. "The south side, no shit? Not gonna lie that's impressive you've managed to live down there. Word is, its become the worst part of the whole city now."

"I heard," I said a little too hostile.

"Come on lets get inside," Denn said, "It's freezing out here."

That was right. It was October now and the days would become very cold soon. I made a quick side note in my head to make sure my group was ready for the winter.

We walked inside and went up the stairs. Like Liza's base and my own, there wasn't any power so it was relatively dark. Only a few open windows provided the dim lighting inside. We went up more and more until we almost reached the top. One thing I noticed was that there wasn't much activity around the base. Figured there'd be more people since Ariel said there was about one hundred of them.

"We're here," Denn said as knocked on a door.

"Who is it?" a voice said from inside the room. It had to be Celius.

"Denn and Ariel, we have someone who wants to speak with you," Ariel said.

"Come in then," the voice replied.

We walked into the room to find a single person at a table, studying some blueprints. He looked up and smiled. "Denn, Ariel, good to see you again. And who is this?"

"I'm Sora, from the south side of the city," I said as I offered my hand.

He took it and we shook. "Celius. Celius Ryker. I run things around here." Celius was somewhat short, thin and kind of pale. He couldn't have been more than sixteen years old, like myself. He had blue hair that was tipped in brown all the way around and his eyes were caramel ringed with blue.

"Good to meet you Celius," I said, "I guess I'll cut to the chase. I-"

One Celius' soldiers ran into the room in panic. "Celius! There are guards coming this way!"

Celius smiled. "Lets take care of them then. Sora, I hope you like to fight."

"Trust me I do," I said as I followed Celius out of the room and to the fight.

**Authors note: If you haven't noticed I've been sort of setting the stage in these last several chapter so I apologize if you've found these last couple chapters to be boring. Anyway... All credit to the OC Celius Ryker goes to XionTheBlackRose, who btw writes great Kingdom Hearts stories that I highly recommend. Don't forget to review! It takes not even a minute and it means a ton! Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12: Stage Set

I followed Celius outside and Denn and Ariel were both directly behind us. Before we had even gotten outside we could hear the sound of fighting. People yelling, and Keyblades clashing together were the sounds that filled the air. Celius had his Keyblade in hand and I summoned mine as we reached the door to the outside.

Celius sprinted towards the fight as soon as he saw it. Several of his own soldiers were busy fighting but were outnumbered. One saw Celius and ran to him. "Celius! The guards have us outnumbered and we've already lost a few fighters. We've never had to deal with an attack this big before!"

Celius nodded and ordered, "We'll hold them off. Get the wounded and anyone who can't fight inside."

"Yes, sir!"

_No hesitation to receive orders from Celius,_ I thought to myself. _Seems he is a good leader after all._

Celius turned to me, Denn and Ariel. "Denn, Ariel, take the right side and assist my fighters on that side. Sora, your with me, if your up for a fight that is."

"I'm always up for a fight," I grinned.

We ran to the main battle and Celius dove at a guard, knocking him off balance before stabbing him in the chest. His fighters rallied around him as the guards backed off a little. "Let's send these bastards back to hell!" he bellowed. His fighters let out their own war cries and charged at the guards.

I had to admit, Celius was both fearless and knew how to pump up his fighters. He didn't hesitate to put himself on the frontlines and he even had my adrenaline going now too. I ran to the nearest guard I could find and attacked. The guard met me head on and managed to knock me off balance for a moment. That surprised me a little but the guard thought he had me beat and I took advantage of it. He swung sideways and I ducked it with ease before sending a thrust at his stomach. He was able to jump backwards at the last second and block my attack. He looked at me for a few moments, thinking of an attack no doubt. I got into my defensive battle stance ready for whatever this guard was going to throw at me.

Unfortunately for him, he never even had a chance. Celius had appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the guard in the upper back, snapping his spine and killing him almost instantly. He gave me a small grin and said, "Guess I have to do it all around here, huh?"

Before he even finished talking another guard had rushed behind him and was about to strike. I raised my Keyblade and shot light out of it. The beam of light soared right past Celius' ear and hit the guard directly in the face. He screamed out in pain before falling limp to the ground. Celius looked at the guard and then at me with a surprised look. "You were saying..." I said with a smile.

"Alright now we're even," he shrugged. "Now come on, let's finish this fight." He turned to take on more guards and I did the same. We were successfully able to take down a few more guard and the last remaining backed away in fear.

"R-retreat! Run while we still can!" one of them yelled. They turned tail and ran off into the direction of that god forsaken palace. Celius suddenly threw his Keyblade in a swinging motion at one of the guards and it struck him directly in the back. He fell to the ground silent, dead almost instantly. Celiud held out his hand and his Keyblade returned to him. He let it disappear and turned to me. "As you can see, we can hold our own here."

"That much is clear," I said, "But I do have a proposal for you. I already talked to Liza and she agreed and-"

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy," Celius cut me off. "Let's clean up out here and then we'll talk inside."

**One hour later:**

"And that's it," I said finishing my explanation of my plan. The same plan I had told the day before. The entire time I was talking Celius was giving me slight nods, a good sign.

"Well I know these two things for sure: Liza is smart and wouldn't agree if she didn't think the plan would be beneficial. The other is that I fucking hate Vezan. So I'm in, I think your right, with our forces combined we should be able to take Vezan off the throne. That's all that concerns me. We're in." He extended his hand I shook.

"This is good to hear, exactly what I was hoping for actually," I said, "I'll return to my base and give them the good news."

"Sounds good," Celius said, "Would you like an escort?"

"No I'll be fine," I answered. I turned to Denn and Ariel, "Thank you, both of you. Hopefully I'll see you again soon."

"Yeah definitely," Ariel said. Denn gave a small tired nod.

I left Celius' west hideout and headed back to mine. It didn't take me too long to get back, about an hour or so. Along the way I found myself smiling with childish joy. Not only had I found the other Rebels and set up communications with them, I had allied my group with theirs. Things were getting better, my hope was that it would only get better from here.

When I reached the base it was almost sunset. I looked off in the horizon for a few moments. It was a hell of a sight to see, and one of the only beautiful things left in this city.

I sighed and walked inside.


	13. Chapter 13: Explanations

"Where the hell have you been?!" Kairi asked angrily as she ran up and wrapped her arms around me. "I was so worried something might have happened to you!"

I smiled a little. I knew she was going to be like this. "Hey, don't worry I'm fine see? I told you before I wouldn't let anything happen to me, that I would always come back to you."

Kairi wiped a tear from her eye. "I-I know but you were gone for so long and there was no way to talk to you. Riku kept telling me not to worry but..."

"Trust me Riku does know what he's talking about.. Sometimes." Kairi laughed as Riku came around the corner. He had a mock look of pain on his face.

"Oh thanks Sora that makes me feel great about myself," he said with smile. Then he became more serious. "I assume you have some good news since you were gone for a while."

I nodded. "I do. Come on lets head to my room and we'll talk there."

When we walked to my room many people came up to with relieved looks on their faces. They asked quickly if I was successful and I told them I would explain later. Daniel was one of the first to come up to me. He started asking me question after question like a mad man and I starter laughing. After he calmed down I said, "Don't worry Daniel, I'll tell everyone at once later. I just want some time to relax." He nodded several times and gave me a quick goodbye before heading off into the other direction.

"He just can't sit still can he?" Riku said.

"Guess not, but hey, he's reliable," I responded.

We reached room and I sat down in my chair with a sigh. I was surprisingly more tired than I thought I would be. It had been some time since I had last been in a fight, so I guess that's why. Still, that fight earlier in the day was, as strange as this may sound, fun. I guess when I think about overthrowing Vezan, it just gets me fired up. I was still thinking to myself when I realized both Riku and Kairi were staring at me. "Oh right. Uhh.. So I guess I'll start by asking Riku that I'm assuming you and the other didn't find anyone?"

He shook his head. "No we couldn't find a damn thing, half the city is like a ghost town."

I nodded. "Yeah that's what Liza had told me. That our section of the city was pretty much being abandoned due to all the Runners. I told them that the Runners were nothing we couldn't handle and we were staying right here."

"Who's Liza?" Kairi asked.

"Oh she's the leader of the east Rebels," I answered. "So what happened was this. I found two fighters from Liza's group, Denn and Ariel. I told them who I was and about our whole group here and how we planned to fight back. So they took me to Liza and I told her all the same. Apparently we were a little late to that party because Liza's group had already hooked up with Celius' group on the west side. I spent the night at Liza's base, which is actually pretty cool, since it's like a network of underground tunnels. Anyway the next day I was taken to Celius' base which is actually the old abandoned radio tower on the west side of the city. There were some guards we took care of without a problem, although Celius lost a couple of fighters. I then explained the plan to him and he was more than happy to join us. He hates Vezan as much as I do, maybe even more."

"That's impossible," Riku said, "No one hates him more than you."

I shrugged. "With good reason too. Anyway long story short, I know where the other Rebels are and I'll share their locations with the others later. And we're now allied with them, so we can now take the fight to Vezan. For real now, no more little raids."

"That's awesome," Kairi said.

"Yeah now it's time to get serious," Riku added in, "The sooner Vezan is gone the better. No one knows how much longer the city will last. Word is there are more Runners everyday and it's almost like Vezan doesn't even care."

"As long as he's safe in his palace he could care less what happened to anyone else," I said with a disgusted tone. "Whatever, that's not news to us. Hey Kairi could you just go around and tell everyone to gather in the main room? I'll explain all of this to them in a few minutes."

"Yeah no problem," said as she got up and left.

I waited until she closed the door before speaking to Riku. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"No not really. Daniel and Ventus went around to get some more food. They also sprayed that insignia almost anywhere they could. There was one thing you should probably know. That Terra guy, I overheard him talking to that Aqua girl. He was saying how he doesn't think your doing a good enough job leading the people here. The funny thing is Aqua disagreed with every single thing he said. You can deal with him however you want I guess."

"Yeah guess I will later," I replied tiredly. "Come on, let's head to the main room."

We left my room and headed to the main room of the base. Everyone was already there, so Kairi clearly did quick job getting word out for everyone to gather. I told them all the same things I had told Kairi Riku shortly before. I also pulled out my large map of the city and was able to pinpoint where Liza and Celius' bases were. Everyone was happy about this news. I was too of course. Everyday seemed to be brighter than the one before it. Soon, very soon, things would change for the better, I just knew it.

After I broke up the meeting I found Terra and pulled him aside. "We aren't gonna have a problem are we?" I said sharply.

He tried to play it off. "What are you talking about?" he asked a little too innocently.

"Don't bullshit me I know what you said to Aqua about how I run things here. If you don't like what's going on here, if you don't agree with what we do, that's fine. I won't hold it against you. And the doors right over there, so you can leave whenever you feel free, no one will stop you."

I walked away leaving Terra alone. I knew he wouldn't be a problem again.

I mentioned earlier that each day felt brighter than the one before. And that was true, up to that point at least. Unfortunately, things were going to become darker. And quick.


	14. Chapter 14: New Enemies?

A few days later it was time to do what Riku had said: get serious. One of the following nights I was up all night thinking about one thing. Communications. So far the only way to speak with Liza or Celius' groups was to literally meet them at their bases or my base or anywhere in between. But if we could set up communications between our bases then we could be in constant contact with each other.

Riku and I set out one morning to Celius' based, the radio tower. We were meeting Liza and obviously Celius to discuss this matter.

We reached the radio tower where the same guard who was at watch when I first came here several days ago was on guard yet again. "Hey.. Sora, right?" I nodded. "Good to see you again. I assume you are here to speak with Celius and Liza?" Again I nodded. "Liza arrived a few minutes ago so they're inside waiting for you."

"Alright thanks," I said. Riku and I entered the base and went to Celius' office.

I knocked. "If it's Sora then come in," we heard Celius say from the other side, "If it's not, then come back later."

Riku chuckled a little. "Seems like a nice guy."

"He actually is, and he cares about his group, trust me. And he's also a very good fighter, so I'd recommend not fucking with him." Riku laughed again as we entered the room.

Celius looked up from his map. I could also see Liza was studying the same map but she didn't look up. "Ah Sora good to see you again," Celius said, "And who's this?"

"Liza, Celius, this is Riku," I answered. "He's my best fighter and helps me with leading my group, since I'm not always there."

"So in the event that you die... He takes over?" Liza asked rather cautiously.

"That's right," I confirmed. Riku shuffled his feet a little uncomfortably. I had told him before that if I was killed then he would take charge. He agreed but never liked discussing that scenario. To be honest I didn't either. Nevertheless it was something I knew that had to be at least mentioned. Having some sort of backup plan was always beneficial, at least that's why I always thought.

"Anyway," Celius said to get everyone back on track, "We have an important mission to take care of. We're here.." He said pointing at the location of the radio tower on the map. "And the communications tower is here.." He now pointed to one of the central districts on the map. "We know this. The comms tower is heavily guarded by Keybearer Police, so it won't be easy to take. That being said, we have to take it and set up communications between our three bases. Not to mention the fact that the tower itself is also a strategic necessity. So I say we go in there and kick some ass, then get the radios online. What about the rest of you?"

"Easy Celius," Liza said, "We need to survey the area and the tower before rushing in there. Like you said, it's heavily guarded, my scouts confirmed the same thing."

"That doesn't change anything, we have to take this target no matter what," I added in.

"I propose we each take some of our best soldiers and link up just south of the tower," Celius said.

I nodded and Liza added in, "We'll meet there in an hour. Sound good?" No objections from amy of us. "Good let's get to it," Liza finished.

**One Hour Later:**

Riku, Ventus and myself had just met up with Liza and Celius. Liza brought along Denn and Ariel and Celius had with him one of his best fighters, Titus. I wasn't surprised to see that Titus was a strong fighter. He was a huge human being, despite the fact that he was only about seventeen. Celsius informed us of how much Titus had done in the past and how the guards were well aware of who he is and were even afraid of him.

We scanned the area of the tower, seeing what was in store for us.. We could see several guards in the front of the gate leading to the inside of the tower . There were also some patrolling the balconies on the upper floors too. No doubt there were even more inside. "We need to approach this with stealth and use the cover of night," I said. Lucky for us the incoming winter season meamt shorter days and less light. And we use the cover of night to our advantage whenever possible. "Riku and I will go towards the center. Celius, you and Titus go left and Liza, Denn and Ariel go right and we'll all meet at the front gate. Okay?" Everyone nodded and we went off in our separate directions.

Riku and I got closer to the tower and hid behind some out of place barrels. I looked in front of me. Three guards directly in sight, and one other in sight on the balcony. "On my signal take out the one up top quietly," I told Riku. He nodded and I crept closer. I waited for two guards closer to the entrance to turn their backs before creeping as close as I could to the third. Using the shadows as cover, I signaled to Riku to take out the guard up top. As he used a ranged attack to hit the guard up high, I quickly summoned my Keyblade and stabbed the guard in front of me. I covered his mouth to make sure he stayed quiet before he died. I pulled his body behind a nearby barrel and checked to make sure we weren't compromised. Riku was waiting for me to signal him and the other two guards were completely clueless to our presence. Perfect. Hopefully the other were doing as well as us.

I signaled Riku to move up from his position as I got closer to the tower. When we wee close enough, we took out the still unaware guards at the front gate. We quietly took them out and waited for the others to join us. It didn't take more than a minute for everyone else to meet us at the gate.

No one was hurt and we hadn't been detected yet. So far so good. "We may have to go loud from here on out," Celius said, "I don't think knocking is gonna do the trick."

"He's right, there's going to be more guards inside anyway," Liza added in.

I couldn't disagree with them, what they were saying made perfect sense. I nodded, signifying that I agreed with them.

Celius turned to Titus and said, "You know what to do." Titus nodded and summoned his Keyblade. It was a massive weapon and the teeth resembled a hammerhead. He took a step back and pulled his Keyblade back as well. He took one large step forward and came down on the door with all his might. The doors hinges stood no chance and the door went crashing into the towers ground floor.

From the inside we could hear, "Here they come get ready!" Clearly somebody must have seen us and they prepared for us to break in. It made no difference to us if they were ready or not. Titus was the first one in and he swing his massive Keyblade at a group of guards sending them all flying across the room. I was the next one in and met a guard head on. The others followed behind me and each of us had our own one on one battles going on. Except for Titus, who was easily able to take on two or three guards at once. The guard I was taking on was done for from the start. I could see it on his face that he was scared and I was easily able to push him back. He lunged at me again and I dodged his attack before sending my Keyblade into his spine. He cried out in pain before falling onto the floor. He didn't make another sound. I turned to see the others weren't having any trouble either. Titus swung his weapon and launched two guards right into the wall behind them with a loud thud. Whether they were dead or just out cold I didn't know, nor did I care.

When the guards were taken care of, I walked up to Titus and said, "Good work, your one hell of a fighter." He just gave me a blank stare and didn't say a word.

"He doesn't talk much, but when he fights like that, he doesn't need to. Now come we gotta head upstairs to get to the communications center," Celius said rather impatiently.

We we all headed up to the next floor but I stopped about halfway up the stairs. I could sense something outside, something dark. And I felt like whatever it was had been watching us, was still watching us. Riku noticed I stopped and turned around. "Sora what's up?"

"There's something.. I'll catch up just keep going without me," I answered. Riku gave me a puzzled look but did what I said. I ran back downstairs and outside. I looked around and saw nothing but I could feel its presence, whatever it was.

"Show yourself!" I called out and as I did a strange dark corridor opened up in front of me. A single figure emerged wearing a black coat with the hood up to conceal his face. "Who are you," I said.

The figure said nothing. Then in a quick flash his right hand became surrounded in bolts of lightning and he hurled a ball of lightning right at me. I barely was able to raise my Keyblade and deflect the ball towards a nearby wall, which collapsed from the attack. I now got in my battle stance and waited for this new enemy to make his next move.

The figure didn't attack me, though I was expecting him to. Instead he spoke. "You wish to free this city from the tyranny of Vezan," he said. His voice was quiet and calm but also unnerving at the same time. "We do as well, but for our own reasons. I am sure our paths will cRoss again soon..." As he finished his last sentence he opened a dark corridor.

"Wait!" I yelled at him. But it was too late, he has already stepped through and the corridor disappeared. I was there alone now, just thinking to myself. "Who the hell was that? What the hell was that? He made it sound like he wants Vezan gone too but for what reason?"

Riku suddenly emerged from the tower and ran up to me. "Good news, we just got communications set up between our three bases. Celius and Liza are having some of their troops come here to hold the tower as a strategical standpoint and make sure the communications stay up. And... Sora, are you listening to me?"

Truth be told I hadn't heard a word he had said. I was still thinking about that figure in the black coat, what he had said, and what it meant for all of us.

**Authors note: This was a longer chapter than usual but I do like how it turned out, hope you did as well. Anyway, Im taking suggestions for "evil" OC's so leave a review or PM me regarding that if you have an idea. As always thanks a ton for reading and please leave a review. I'd like to thank my one consistent reviewer, XionTheBlackRose (who also writes great KH stories that I recommend.) dont forget to review and thanks again for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15: Hope Revived

The next day there was only one thing on my mind: that person in the black coat. At least I thought it was a person. At the time I didn't know who or what it really was. All I knew was that he was an enemy of Vezan's and most likely an enemy of mine. _You want Vezan gone. As do we. But for different reasons. _What does it all mean...

"Sora!"

I jumped a little as I was suddenly snapped out of my daydream. I looked over to see Riku staring at me with interest. "You alright man? You've barely touched your breakfast," he said. I looked down at my plate. I hadn't touched it at all.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered him.

"You still thinking about that guy you fought with last night?" he asked alittle more quietly so no one else would hear. The only ones who knew about the black coated figure were the ones on the mission last night. We agreed to keep that on the down low until we learned more about what we were really up against.

I looked around to to make sure no one was listening to us. "Yeah... It's just that, that attack he threw at me last night. The ball of lightning or whatever it was, it was so powerful, it took a lot of my strength to deflect it. It just feels like we have a new threat on our hands, one much more powerful than Vezan."

Riku nodded several times before speaking. "I thought the same thing last night after you told us what had happened. It's obvious there's more than one of them but how many? And how powerful are they? Only time will I guess. But keep this in mind, we have other matters to attend to, like the rebellion. Now that we have communications with Celius and Liza set up, things will be a little easier."

"That's true," I replied, "Speaking of that, who's on the radio right now? You know in case anyone contacts us."

"Daniel, he has the morning station on the radio," Riku informed me.

As if on cue, Daniel ran into the room all in a panic. "Sora! Riku! Celius is on the communicator and he says it's urgent!" he excalimed, though he was completely out of breath.

"Guess breakfast will have to wait," I sighed, "Thanks Daniel. Riku, let's check it out." Riku nodded and followed me into the small communications room we had set up the night before. A small radio acted as the communicator, with a walkie-talkie like device used for talking. After we took control of the tower, we set up the frequencies to match that of the radio we had here, and the ones both Celius and Liza had as well. Only we could use the radios to communicate, so long as the tower remained in our control. Both Celius and Liza assured me that they had top notch fighters defending the tower if anyone tried to take it.

I picked up the walkie-talkie communicator and said, "Sora here."

"Sora!" Celius practically screamed, "Something big is happening, but no time to explain! You and Riku meet me at the West District's fountain plaza! Liza's coming too but go there now!"

"Celius, calm down what's..." I stopped when I realized Celius had already left the room of his radio and I put the walkie-talkie down. "Damn it... Alright, Riku let's go see what hells going on."

"Wonder what's up," he said.

"Guess we won't find out until we get there," I replied, alittle annoyed with Celius at the moment. Scratch that, I was very annoyed with him at the moment.

**Later at the West District Fountain Plaza:**

Riku and I stood at the top of a building in the West District's fountain plaza. I was stunned at what I was seeing. There were people, and a lot of them. Not guards, no Rebels either. Just normla citizens ofHeart City, simply going along with their lives. I knew we were in a richer District that was close to the Royal District, but still. This whole area was a completely different world compared to where we were on the south side of the city. Riku was equally surprised. "What the hell?" was all he could say at the moment.

I looked closer and I could see Celius on the ground, along with Liza. "Look, down there. That's them, let's go," I said to Riku and we went down and met with them. "Celius, what the hell is going on? What's with all the people?" I asked.

He gave me a puzzled look. "What're you talking about? It's always like this in this area of the city."

My eyes widened at that. "So you really weren't kidding when you said the south side of the city was 'abandoned'"

"Wouldn't kid about something like that, but that's not important right now," Celius said. "Earlier this morning one of my scouts found something very important. A certain kid was taken prisoner by the guards and the patrol is on the way to the palace right now."

"What kid? Why is he so important?" Riku said rather impatiently.

"He won't say," Liza said, "Trust me, I already asked him.

"Just listen!" Celius said clearly annoyed, "I can't tell you here, with all these people around. The wrong person might hear something. Just follow me, we have to find that patrol."

Celius took off in the direction of the Royal District leaving the rest of us to stand there. "Oh what the hell?!" I called out before taking off after him. Riku and Liza were right behind me. It was obnoxious having to follow Celius through the small crowds of people. Not to mention the fact that none of them even tried to get out of our way. When I caught up to Celius, I grabbed his arm and said, "Let's travel on the rooftops, it'll be much faster that way."

He looked a little surprised I had caught up to him at all. He looked up at a nearby building, then back at me. "Alright, no problem," he shrugged.

I rolled my eyes as I now followed him up a rooftop and we were quickly jumping from building to building, closer to the Royal District with each step we took. Finally Celius stopped and pointed to a nearby guard patrol. There was about a dozen of them, and they were quickly taking someone towards the palace. After taking a closer look that someone was, as Celius had said, a kid, and he couldn't have been any older than about ten. Riku and Liza caught up to us now but the moments rest was short lived. I was about ask what the plan was when Celius simply said, "Let's get 'em!" and he summoned his Keyblade and jumped down.

"Celius, wait!" Liza called out trying to stop him.

"Too late," I said, Celius was already on the ground and charging straight at the guards. "Come on, we can't let him fight alone." I summoned my own Keyblade and jumped down, with Riku and Liza right behind me.

"Hey!" Celius yelled out, getting all of the guards' attention. They turned around and began to laugh at the one Keybearer running at them. They stopped laughing as soon as they realized Celius wasn't alone.

The leader of the squad stepped forward. "You two, guard the brat! The rest of you are with me," he ordered his soldiers. They all summoned their own Keyblades and prepared for a fight. And this fight would be their last.

Celius was there first and struck donw one clearly under-trained guard before locking Keyblades with another. I was there now and I fired light from my Keyblade to take one down from a distance. I began trading blows with another guard, each of us blocking the others attacks. I rolled to the side to dodge an incoming attack from a second guard that barely missed my head. _That would've been the end_, I thought to myself. I was suddnely really pissed at Celius for rushing us into this battle so outnumbered. Just who was this kid anyway? I could yell at him later, right now I had a fight to worry about.

I fiented an attack that caused one of the guards to attempt to block and he lost his balance. I quickly took advantage of the opportunity and took him down with a quick thrust. Then spinning around I shot light at the other guard attacking me. He yelled out an pain as my attack on;y wounded him, but I silenced him wiht a quick swing down on him. I momentarily had a second to look around at the battle. Celius and Liza were quickly taking down the remaining guards as Riku went straight for the two still guarding the kid. I followed him without hesitation. When he got close enough, he jumped ovee the two guards and that forced them to turn their backs to me. Big mistake. I threw my Keyblade boomerang style at one guard and it cut him down instantly. Riku then made quick work of the other guard and I ran to him.

Celius and Liza met with us then too and after I caught my breath, I let Celius have it. "Alright, Celius... This kid better be _really_ fucking important. Who the hell is he?"

Celius did something I didn't expect him to. He smiled. "This..." he said, "Is Oden."

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened. I looked down at the one named Oden. There was only one person named Oden in the entire city, but he was someone we thought to be long dead.

I was staring into the eyes of Prince Oden, the son of King Fedus and heir to the throne of Heart City.


	16. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

**authors note: I'm putting this story on hiatus for a while. I have been working on new story and with other commitments, it's hard to find time to write. I could also use time to think of new ideas to take the story, I wouldn't want to put in a bad effort towards the chapters, that'd be unfair to you, the readers. I'm truly sorry to anyone that was waiting for an update. I will make it very clear that this story IS NOT DEAD, and I wI'll continue it when time permits. Anyone who has questions or comments please PM me or leave a review and I will respond if necessary. Again I'm sorry to anyone that finds this as an inconvenience.**


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